Work against racism

Racism, in all its forms, is unacceptable.

Racism, and racial discrimination, has a profound impact on mental health.

For safe and effective mental health care for all, every effort must be taken to combat racism.

The RANZCP takes great pride in representing a culturally diverse membership who provide high quality mental health care to equally vibrant communities in Australia and Aotearoa New Zealand.

The College acknowledges its responsibility to work to end racism in all its forms.

Our commitments

In 2023, RANZCP committed to addressing racism within psychiatry and communities in a Public Statement.

In the statement, the College acknowledged:

the detrimental effects that racism has on patients, including their family and whānau, staff and students within our healthcare systems
the College’s responsibility to ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, can access mental health care in a safe, equitable way
the harmful legacy ofcolonisation, including the fragmentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Pacific and Māori culture and kinship, dispossession, displacement, disease, genocide, assimilation, discrimination and racism
the way intergenerational trauma is rooted in continuing socio-economic inequity
the work needed to be done by the College to address racism within psychiatry and communities.

Read the full Public Statement: combatting racism in psychiatry [PDF; 105KB].

Racism Awareness Steering Group

As part of our commitment to anti-racism work the RANZCP formed the Racism Awareness Steering Group (RASG).

The RASG is made up of people with professional and lived and living experience of racism and the health system.

Astha Tomar
Alasdair Vance
Hamza Vayani
Ajay Velayudhan
Helena Niu
Ilana Nayman
Laura Hammersley
Lyndy Matthews
Matira Taikato
Raju Lakshmana
Saddichha Sahoo
Samantha Loi
Selamawit Mulholland

Progress

The RASG has taken a number of steps to progress the RANZPs anti-racism work.

Key priorities for RANZCP action and advocacy identified (complete).
Internal Evidence Brief developed to evaluate the prevalence, experiences and impact of racism in psychiatry and mental health (complete).
Review of current RANZCP education and training regarding cultural safety and anti-racism (complete).
Publicly facing resources and statements from the RANZCP on racism, racial discrimination and key priority groups and areasreviewed and evaluated (complete and ongoing).
Interim resources for members developed to address key areas of misunderstanding, misinformation or disengagement regarding anti-racism (ongoing).
Symposium at Congress 2024 regarding the RANZCP anti-racism work (complete - 2024 Congress book of abstracts [PDF; 749KB]).
Webinar held for members regarding racism and mental health (complete).
RASG outcomes linked with other RANZCP initiatives (complete and ongoing).
Data and evidence gathering measures of racism within psychiatry developed (complete and ongoing).
Key stakeholders and external programs and procedures for RANZCP engagement developed (complete and ongoing).
Symposium at Congress 2025 (completed).
Report on RANZCP anti-racism actions and recommendations delivered to Board (ongoing).

Related College position statements

Related webpages

College Committees

Contact

For any questions about the RANZCP anti-racism work or the Racism Awareness Steering Group please contact policy@ranzcp.org